MAPF Chapter 54

Chapter 54: When Did You Start Liking Me?

Xie Shiwei instantly held his breath, feeling like everything around him had stopped.

The dust floating in the air, the curtains swaying in the breeze, the drifting clouds, all froze in place because of He Qin’s words, “I like you.”

Xie Shiwei stared blankly at him, his chest echoing with his heartbeat, the tip of his nose slightly sore.

This was the first time in his twenty-five years that he had heard such a pure confession. Although he had anticipated it, his heart was still deeply moved.

But why did the person confessing have to be… the impossible He Qin?

Although He Qin had no flaws besides that, he hadn’t been in a relationship, hadn’t spent nights in passionate embraces with a handsome man from dusk till dawn, and definitely couldn’t be as great as Bai An in the original story, accepting his husband’s stomach problems without a second thought!

Xie Shiwei was a tangled mess of yarn, and He Qin, seeing his troubled expression, sighed, “I don’t need you to respond to me now. It’s okay if you don’t respond. We can get along as we always have.”

Xie Shiwei let out a long breath. “Thank you so much.”

“But we can’t get divorced. The one-year period isn’t up yet, and the Crystalline Material is still being researched. You and I were never supposed to get divorced anyway. He Xin is going public next week, and you’ll have to accompany me to a series of post-listing events.”

Xie Shiwei: “……”

He Qin smiled faintly. “Isn’t this what you wanted? We’ll talk about divorce after He Xin Technology is more stable.”

“Okay,” Xie Shiwei could only agree, but suddenly felt worried. “Can you guarantee that you’ll divorce me after a year?”

A divorce agreement requires both parties to sign! What if He Qin goes back on his word?

He Qin said meaningfully, “That depends on your performance.”

“Performance?” Xie Shiwei was horrified, immediately jumping to the wrong conclusion. “What do you want me to do? You tore up those Post-Marriage Rules yourself!”

He Qin asked, “What rules?”

Xie Shiwei bit his lip, whispering, “You know, the ones that required you and me, seven times a week…”

“Oh, those,” He Qin recalled the scene that day and chuckled, “I’m not an animal like Qiao Lin. Put your heart back in your stomach.”

Xie Shiwei: “Then what kind of performance are you talking about?”

“Two requirements. Before the divorce, you can’t go out and flirt with other men.”

“Oh…” Xie Shiwei breathed a sigh of relief. This wasn’t difficult.

“And, you’re not allowed to play matchmaker between Bai An and me anymore. I’ll also make things clear with him.”

Xie Shiwei nodded, a stray lock of black hair swaying gently with the movement.

A subtle smile played on He Qin’s lips. “Let’s go home.”

“Wait,” Xie Shiwei grabbed the corner of He Qin’s shirt. “I still have a question to ask you.”

“Ask away.”

“When did you start liking me?”

He Qin moved closer to Xie Shiwei, staring into his radiant eyes. “Let’s trade questions, Xie Shiwei. You answer my question, and then I’ll tell you the answer.”

Xie Shiwei guessed what He Qin wanted to ask and readily agreed.

He Qin definitely wanted to know where he came from, who he really was.

Since He Qin already suspected his identity, he might as well admit it. The worst that could happen was being labeled mentally ill and sent to a hospital.

.

After returning home, Xie Shiwei carefully replayed his interactions with He Qin over the past few days.

He Qin had gradually been treating him better and better. He had thought it was He Qin’s approval of him as a friend, but now he realized it might have been He Qin liking him, showing his affection.

He closed his eyes and went back in time, piecing together many things he had ignored at the time, things that now seemed off.

Teaching him how to fish on the yacht, asking him for rose dew, playing games with him, giving him a motorcycle, letting him drive the Porsche.

Oh heavens.

Xie Shiwei marveled at his own slowness.

Looking around the room, everything felt different.

He saw the mind map He Qin had made for him and felt a burning sensation. Thinking about sharing a bathroom with He Qin made him blush, and remembering how he used to lie on He Qin’s bed watching movies and sleeping made him want to disappear.

Xie Shiwei was a mess of embarrassment, regret, and frustration. He even felt like the whole room was filled with He Qin’s cologne. He quickly opened the window to ventilate the room before collapsing onto the bed, wondering what his true feelings for He Qin were.

His mind was a tangled mess.

He certainly wasn’t completely indifferent to He Qin.

He liked He Qin’s face and body and admired some of his qualities, but this obviously wasn’t true love because he cared about He Qin’s congenital defects, couldn’t accept them, and always had the idea of running away, constantly hooking up with men as backups, eagerly anticipating the divorce.

Xie Shiwei buried his head in the quilt, took a deep breath, and mentally cursed himself for being a shallow, looks-obsessed person.

But this time, he had finally lived like a human being and wanted to prioritize his own feelings. Therefore, he couldn’t accept He Qin out of sympathy. He still had to refuse, not giving him any room for imagination.

While Xie Shiwei was racking his brains, He Qin, the instigator, seemed as normal as ever. Controlled by his strict biological clock, he went to bed early. In the days that followed, he interacted with Xie Shiwei as usual, without crossing the line or avoiding him. Everything was just right, as if he was born knowing how to handle Xie Shiwei.

.

After a month of busy work, at the end of July, He Xin Technology went public and was a great success. The VR glasses, which had long been the center of attention, were also officially launched on the market. The news was overwhelming, and the wealth of He Qin and his adoptive father skyrocketed.

He Qin seized the opportunity, representing the technical team to share some non-core confidential technical codes and commercial data, presenting it in the form of an open technical platform. The data was stored in the exhibition center of Technology Port for internal industry access and exchange.

This was an extraordinary act of sincerity.

He Xin Technology had been leading the industry in recent years, mastering many cutting-edge technologies. Although only a small part was released, it provided great convenience for many small companies, instantly winning He Xin a lot of goodwill from people inside and outside the industry. Sales and stock prices rose to new heights.

Taking advantage of this wave of popularity, He Xin decided to hold a launch gala for the technology platform, while also celebrating its successful listing.

In the past, He Xin’s activities couldn’t attract anyone, but now businessmen were rushing to participate. The final list of guests was almost comparable to the opening of Xie Shi Group’s branch.

Xie Shiwei had long known that he would accompany He Qin throughout the event. Xie Tian’an and Chen Ning would also be present as guests.

Since Chen Ning was going, he became more vigilant.

He had to prevent Chen Ning from meeting Bai An at this stage.

Chen Ning could reunite with her biological son, but even if they did, it should be after her true colors were exposed, she voluntarily left or was driven out of the Xie family by Xie Tian’an, detached from Xie Shi Group, and completely unable to steal Xie’s secrets.

Xie Shiwei specifically confirmed with He Qin whether Bai An would attend, adding that he had no intention of matchmaking whatsoever.

He Qin denied it: “The unveiling ceremony is not a family and friends banquet. He doesn’t have the appropriate identity to be invited. Most importantly, I won’t buy him an invitation.”

Xie Shiwei’s face turned red: “……”

.

With practice comes familiarity. On the morning of the unveiling gala, Xie Shiwei got himself ready. Having nothing to do, he called Wang Gugu over to fulfill his promise of doing her makeup.

He had worked part-time as a makeup artist in college and had some knowledge of makeup and styling. He quickly found a style that suited Wang Gugu, minimizing flaws and maximizing strengths, giving her a particularly cool European and American makeup look.

Wang Gugu screamed, looking at the unfamiliar self in the mirror. Her scream attracted He Qin. He Qin changed his clothes and came over to take a look, and suddenly had an idea. He sat down in front of the makeup mirror and looked at Xie Shiwei’s back as he was putting away his makeup tools. “Makeup artist, how can I improve myself?”

Wang Gugu looked impressed, thinking that He Qin was quite good at this.

Xie Shiwei turned around when he heard the sound, and was stunned: “You don’t need to put on makeup.”

He Qin looked like he was asking for advice: “Why don’t I need to? I want to hear the explanation from a professional point of view.”

This was Xie Shiwei’s professional field. He stroked his chin and analyzed for He Qin: “Look, your bone structure is three-dimensional, your T-zone is superior, you have a high nose and thin lips, your head is like a sculpture, and you have all the necessary shadow proportions. Adding more makeup would be redundant.”

“But I think I have a very obvious flaw, haven’t you noticed?”

“What is it?”

“My lip color is a bit pale.”

What an obvious flaw.

Xie Shiwei was speechless. He asked Wang Gugu to leave, closed the door, and smiled: “He Qin, are you doing this on purpose?”

“Doing what on purpose?”

Xie Shiwei scoffed: “Don’t play dumb. You deliberately asked me to put on makeup for you. You want to take advantage of me!”

He Qin’s expression was calm: “You’re overthinking it. I’m just asking you to put on makeup for me, not do body painting. Besides, if you put on makeup for me, it should be you taking advantage of me.”

Xie Shiwei angrily said, “I said I wouldn’t deliberately take advantage of you!”

He Qin: “Could it be that you’re afraid that when you put makeup on me, your will won’t be firm and your feelings for me will waver, so you don’t dare to do it?”

Damn it. Xie Shiwei choked.

What could he say?

“Alright! It’s just makeup, I’ll do it, who’s afraid of who!”

He Qin’s tone was light: “Then put on some lipstick for me.”

Xie Shiwei gritted his teeth and said a loud “Okay.”

The makeup kit in the makeup room was prepared by Butler Wang. It was missing some things. The lipstick was a palette-like paste, but the brush was disposable, and there was only one. He had thrown it away after Wang Gugu used it.

He couldn’t pick it up again for He Qin to use.

Xie Shiwei glared at He Qin resentfully, and had no choice but to extend his index finger, dip it in a layer of rose bean paste lipstick, lift He Qin’s chin, and dab it on his thin lips.

He Qin tilted his head slightly, his gaze falling on Xie Shiwei’s fingers.

Fair, slender, with a layer of light pink on the knuckles.

Moving his gaze upwards, Xie Shiwei’s face was close at hand.

Long and curled eyelashes, amber eyes, beauty marks under his eyes, and very vivid expressions all made his heart itch.

He Qin’s reason and manners were being eaten away little by little. Without any warning, he suddenly turned his head, impulsively pressed his lips against Xie Shiwei’s fingertip, and closed his eyes as if in satisfaction.

Suddenly covered by He Qin’s thin lips, a numbing sensation soared from Xie Shiwei’s fingertips, sweeping through his whole body like an electric shock.

He flung his hand away and exclaimed in panic, “He Qin, what are you doing!”

“Sorry,” He Qin pursed his lips, his expression still calm, “There was someone outside the window just now who looked like my assistant, I wanted to take a look.”

He Qin was pretending too well, and Xie Shiwei was too flustered, completely ignoring that all the servants were in the back building for the routine weekly meeting, and there was no way anyone could be outside the window. He foolishly said, “Okay.”

The warmth on his finger lingered. He awkwardly looked for a tissue to wipe off the remaining lip gloss.

He Qin told him not to waste it and just put it on himself.

“But you’ve already used it…” Xie Shiwei was unsettled again, “Are you really not doing this on purpose?!”